The 2024 Alaska Native Artist Residency Program at the

Sheldon Jackson Museum   

The Sheldon Jackson Museum and Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum are pleased to announce the selection of the Alaska Native artists for this year’s Alaska Native Artist Residency Program. Selected from a pool of applicants, these artists will come to the museum from all over the state to share their art forms and culture over the course of five months.

Between June and the end of October, the Sheldon Jackson Museum Alaska Native artists-in-residence will work in the museum gallery, provide free hands-on classes teaching their art forms, give lectures, and provide the museum with material culture consultations on artifacts. Artists-in-residence will connect the public to their culture(s) through creation of art in an open studio-like format. Visitors will have opportunities to engage with artists and learn about Alaska Native traditions, art forms, artists’ techniques, and sources of inspiration.

Artists-in-residence will receive an artist stipend for their work, lodging, and travel to and from Sitka, and will have a variety of opportunities to study the museum’s permanent collection and educate staff through “cultural consultations.” As part of their residency, artists have scheduled time to study artifacts on exhibit and in collections storage. Through the study of artifacts at the museum, artists have an invaluable opportunity to examine material culture created by their ancestors. The benefits of this study time extend to the museum staff who gain priceless insight into artifacts as the artists share their knowledge and observations. The indispensable information captured in these cultural consultations is recorded in museum records, adding to the knowledge of present-day staff and members of the public and to future generations of museum goers, researchers, artists, and Sheldon Jackson Museum staff.

This summer and fall, the Alaska Native Artist Residency Program will include the following artists:

  • Lisa Lynch, Inupiaq painter and beader (June 11-July 2)
  • Neva Mathias, Cup’ik grass weaver and dance fan maker (July 23-Aug. 11)
  • Jim Hart, Tlingit carver (Aug 20-Sept. 8)
  • Tina Harness, Yup’ik beader (Sept. 12-Oct. 2)
  • Denali McGlashan, Unangax painter (Oct. 3-Oct. 24)

In addition to creating art at the museum and studying the permanent collection, resident artists will also hold lectures and hands-on-classes. The talks and classes will likely be held in-person but may also be on Zoom. Details on talks and classes will be announced soon. Contact the museum for information about each class.

The Alaska Native Artist Residency Program is underwritten by the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum and is made possible with support from the Friends, the National Endowment for the Arts, Alaska Airlines, the Baranov Lodge, and private donors. To find out how to support the residency program or for future calendars of events, visit ww.friendsofsjm.com.